Chapter Fourteen: Into the temple

The next day, Link was given his blue swimming suit. It was a very tough fiber that the zoras said was resistant against magic, but physical attacks could cut through easier, meaning that melee battles were going to be risky. He put it on and looked at himself in the mirror and saw himself in dark blue suit that had a strange golden helmet on the top, golden shoulder plates, and flippers where his shoes would be. He also had a mask that was currently reinforced with magic to filter out the harmful substances in the water. Zihark had given him his sword, saying that he did not need it any more. Link had been thankful and had taken the next few minutes afterwards to change into this strange looking outfit.

"Well, I'd better get going. I won't be able to take my hammer, as it will just sink in the water, and my bombs won't ignite in the water, so what's the point of brining them? Well, here we go now."

He walked out and Zihark said, "Come back safe, Link. I really hope that I can show off my new blade to you, because I personally think it is awesome."

Link grinned and said, "Hey, thanks, Zihark. Don't worry, I'll be back. See ya later!"

He waved and left. He walked on and found Ruto standing near the edge of the pool. He took a moment to examine the water, and was confused when he saw that the water seemed perfectly normal.

He asked, "I wonder what is up with the water? It isn't normal that it looks normal, yet is so harmful."

Ruto was now dressed in her armor with only one thing different. There was a veil around her face that was going to act as the filter. She replied, "None of us zora really know for sure. All we know is that it is harmful and that you and I have to take a precaution against it."

Link asked, "Where exactly are we going?"

Ruto sighed and replied, "The water temple is the source of all the clean water. We think that there might be something inside that is screwing with the purification system."

Link asked, "Purification system?"

Ruto asked, "How did you not know about it?"

Link replied, "Remember, I am technically a commoner. I don't know much about this stuff."

Ruto told him, "The purification system is a network of pipes far down under the water in the temple. Some of them have magical powers that I have never experienced, but most say that it was designed by a genius. This purification system spans the entire lake, although you cannot see because it is underground. This is why Lake Hylia has been pure for so long. Does that make sense to you?"

Link nodded and said, "Thanks for the description. So, some of the pipes are magical...I wonder what they do."

Ruto said, "Again, I don't think that many people know. It was designed in a time where there were strange creatures that even we do not remember the names of."

A zora came up and said, "Follow me, princess and hero. I will guide you to the water temple and down the secret entrance into purification system."

Ruto and Link leaped into the water and Link barely remembered to put his mask up before he landed in the cold water. He followed them, swimming under the water and trying to keep his eyes open. They stung at first, but as his eyes adjusted, the pain vanished and he saw that everything seemed to be a murky bluish-green. He followed the two figures that were swimming through the water and found that his hearing wasn't impaired by the water. This was because the helmet he had on covered his ears and did not let anything through, so the water did not block up his ears. What he heard was still strange, but he wouldn't have to knock the water out of his ears after he was done.

He followed them until they finally reached the Lake Hylia. From Link's vision, everything started turning a strange tint of purple as they went along. Finally, the water seemed to become clear as they approached the temple. Instead of taking the main entrance into the temple, their guide swam down to a clump of weed on the ground. He pushed it aside and revealed a secret, underwater passage leading right down to the purification system itself. Link was fascinated by this new discovery and thought, I have to remember where that is, just in case I need to help them out with this sometime in the future.

They swam down and when they reached the entrance, Link took notice that the zora had no mask. He asked, "Um...why don't you have a mask for protection?"

The zora replied, "I have already faced it, survived, and become immune to it. It will not affect me now."

Ruto asked, "How are we even talking in here?"

The zora replied, "I guess it is one of the magics inside this purification system. Now, you and Ruto will have to go in alone. Zihark will later arrive to guide you back, and he wishes that you and especially Ruto come back alive."

Ruto wondered, Does he...care for me? Is he perhaps jealous, jealous that Link likes me?

The zora said, "Well, I have to go. I wish you good luck."

The zora swam out of the secret tunnel, leaving Link and Ruto floating there in the water. Link swam over and pushed open the metal door leading into the system. It slid open and Link was shocked by what he saw. There it was, a huge room filled with pipes that went in zig-zag patterns around the entire room. They were different colored, and the water coming out of them seemed perfectly pure, even though Link knew that it probably was not. He just gawked, staring at this immense work of geometry and art.

Ruto said, "Whoa...it is huge!"

Link asked, "Do we really have to search this...entire thing? This is going to take forever!"

Ruto said, "Yes, we have to. It is the only way to find the source of this impurity. From my knowledge, this is only one room of something far bigger than we could ever have imagined to this point."

Link swam forward, taking in the vastness of this huge room. The water was so clear that he could see almost as if he was on land. The walls were tiled and seemed to be blue because of the water. The pipes were not just on the ceiling or down below them. Rather, they were all over the room. Some pipes had entrances that probably took the water in to be purified by something inside. Link wondered how something of this proportions was even possible, considering the amount of time it would have taken to build just one of these complex pipelines, let alone this huge network of them.

He swam over to one of the open pipes and felt that it was sucking the water inward. Ruto swam over and said, "Well, here goes nothing."

They swam in and suddenly, Link heard a strange noise. He could have sworn that it sounded like a deep "dew dew dew". He wondered what it did, and then was aware that instantly popped out the other side and heard the a higher toned sound. This one sounded like, "dua dua dua". He asked, "Um...what just happened?"

He seemed surprised because his voice sounded strangely squeaky. Ruto shrugged and said, "Like I said, I've never been here before. This is an odd place indeed."

Link then noticed that this room seemed nearly twice as large as the other one. He asked, "Is this room supposed to be bigger than the other room?"

Ruto sighed and replied, "I've told you five times now, I don't know!"

Link seemed taken aback and said, "Sorry. I'm just really curious right now."

He looked back at the pipe and said, "Umm...this pipe wasn't that big..."

The pipe that they had come through suddenly seemed huge, nearly three five times the size that it had been. Link began to wonder what was going on, and then said, "We should move on. This room is just like the other rooms."

Ruto said, "Right you are. Let's get a move on."

They swam to another one of the pipes and when they swam through, they heard the same noises when they went in and came out of it. Link asked, "What is up with these pipes?!"

Ruto said, "Really, Link. Do you have to ask such questions to me right now? I am in the middle of trying to figure this out myself."

Now, they were in a different looking room. This one only had two pipes, but there were strange turtles floating around in the water. They seemed to have smiles on their faces and their heads were poking up above their shells, which were pretty large. They just floated around with no real goal in mind. There in the center of the room was something that seemed like it was supposed to be mixing up the water, but it was inactive. It looked like a large set of brushes on a black pole.

Ruto commented, "Weird turtles..."

Link looked around and noticed that the pipes seemed normal size now. He said, "Ruto, I think that we might be shrinking when we enter certain pipes and growing back to normal when we enter others."

Ruto asked, "Why do you think that?"

Link said, "The pipes were a lot bigger when we first entered them. Now look. They are normal sized."

Ruto took a moment to look at what Link was talking about, and then said, "You know, you're right. What magic is at work here?"

Link looked up and saw that there were several turtles jammed inside the machinery of this strange mechanism. Link said, "There is the source of one of our problems."

Ruto and Link swam up and Link tried to pry one of the turtles loose, and found that it didn't work. Right now, the machine wasn't even active. Link said, "We have to find some way to activate this."

They both began looking around, and found a small keyhole up at the top. Link guessed, "That must activate the mechanism. Now, the question is...where is the key?"

Ruto commented, "It wouldn't be anywhere near here. It has to be somewhere else in this huge system of pipes. Just how big is this, anyways?"

Link replied, "I thought you said that it takes up the entire Lake Hylia in room."

Ruto said, "I'm beginning to think that this takes up a lot more room than that. I have a feeling that it might enshroud all of Hyrule."

Link laughed and said, "Ruto, that's ridiculous."

Ruto sighed and said, "Link..."

Link said, "Sorry, but that was just a ridiculous idea. I mean, do you realize how pointless that would be?"

Ruto thought about it, and then said, "Yeah, I suppose that you're right. I'm just curious about how we're going to find our way out of this place once we're done. If it is this confusing, then I'm beginning to think that it was designed like a huge maze."

One of the turtles brushed past Link and knocked him forward. He looked at it and said, "That thing is strong! It just brushed past me and knocked me forward!"

Ruto, however, was not listening to him. She was heading towards the other pipe, which was red. Link gasped and swam frantically after her. He heard the same sound and arrived at the other end of a normal sized pipe. The pipes were still about as large as they were, but not huge like they had been that one time. He saw Ruto looking around in confusion, and then found that this room had a purple tint to it. He swam up to Ruto and said, "I think this is one of the impure rooms."

Ruto turned to him with an eyebrow raised and asked, "One? There could be a lot of these rooms!"

Link began to look around and found that there seemed to plants sticking out of some of the pipes. The plants were not normal, however. They had strange red heads with white polka dots. They also had huge teeth that could easily take a chunk out of a man. They all seemed to be sleeping, not paying attention to the two intruders in this room.

Link whispered, "I think that we should just avoid these plants if at all possible."

Ruto nodded, and then said, "This talking underwater still feels wrong. I mean, I've never been able to do it like this, and I've been in water for most of my life!"

Link began to look around, and saw that there was only one of the pipes that really seemed usable. However, it was surrounded by yet another strange thing. These were small, almost octopus like things that had mouths like a deku. Their yellow eyes were scanning for intruders at every moment. Ruto whispered, "Octoroks."

Link pulled out his sword and shield and swam forward towards that pipe. The ocotoroks noticed them and began shooting nuts at them. Link held his shield in the way and found that he could deflect the rocks that they were shooting back at them. He knocked all of the rocks back and easily subdued the octoroks. Now the green pipe was clear, and they both swam through it.

The next few hours were spent getting lost in this maze like place. Neither Ruto or Link had any idea where they were going, and did not dare separate, for fear that they might not see each other again. This continued for a long time, with neither person ever finding any sign of a key, or anything. Sometimes they were big, and sometimes they were small, but they were always lost.

Then, they happened upon a stroke of luck. They passed through a shrinking pipe and arrived in a room that had a purplish tint. Then, Link could barely see the key floating in the middle of the room. He laughed with glee and swam forward to get it. Suddenly, a titanic monstrosity floated down in front of him. It was a big octorok made even bigger by how small they were. It floated down until Link was directly in front of one of its many huge yellow eyes.

Link freaked and said, "Run!"

He began swimming away when one of its tentacles hit the entrance of the pipe, denting it in and sealing off their escape route for the moment. Link now turned around with his sword and shield in hand and just stared at this enormous creature. Suddenly, it began trying to suck them in. It was working, until Link grabbed Ruto and used his hookshot to pull himself up to one of the eyes. They landed near it and they both began to hack at it. The octorok was freaking out because of this, and then the eye went black because it was so badly beat up.

It shook them off and began using its tentacles to stir the water into a whirlpool that was sucking them towards it mouth. The hookshot left Link's hand, floating off to a distance that Link could not reach. He began muttering curses, and then remembered his boomerang. Would it work? He pulled it out and threw it at another one of its five eyes. The boomerang spiraled forward and slammed right into the pupil of one of the eyes. Then it returned and the giant octorok stopped the whirlpool, too busy squirming in pain to continue.

Suddenly, three huge looking turtles that looked like the ones in the cleaning room suddenly appeared. They were swimming towards Ruto and Link, their mouths beginning to open in anticipation of a meal. Link managed to grab his hookshot and Ruto and shot the hookshot straight at another one of the eyes. They zipped towards it, barely avoiding the open mouths of the eager turtles. The landed near it and hacked away at it until it turned black.

They swam away from it and Link thought, That's two down...

Link was about to shoot his hookshot at another eye when both he and Ruto were grabbed by one of its huge tentacles. They were swept up to the mouth almost instantly and Link didn't even have time to think before he was sucked into the mouth. However, thinking as fast as he could, he grabbed Ruto's arm and stabbed his sword into the skin below him, halting their progress inward. Suddenly, the octorok howled in pain, sending them flying out of the mouth and past the hungry turtles.

Link spun around and shot his hookshot again, still holding onto Ruto's arm. She cried, "Not again! This really hurts!"

The hook attached and they shot forward at the eye. They hacked away at it until it turned black again and then swam away once more. The ocotorok seemed to be trying to retreat now, but there was no way for it to go. Now all Link and Ruto had to do was finish it. Link went for the final blow and shot the hookshot at its final eye.

However, it was not done just yet. It ejected ink out everywhere, prohibiting their way of seeing. Then, they were both separated from each other by the huge tentacles. Link called into the think ink, but nothing that came out was understandable. He closed his eyes because the ink was hurting it and then he felt something like magic guide his hand with the hookshot to move up and stopped it a single point.

Desperately, he shot it, and latched onto the final eye. Without opening his eyes once, he hacked at it furiously. It wallowed in pain, and then began to fall down dead. The ink cleared almost instantly and the turtles vanished. The key, though big to them, was still there waiting to be picked up. He let out a cry of glee, and then saw that Ruto was nowhere to be found.

"Ruto! Where are you?" he called frantically.

She called back in reply, "I'm...up here. I really didn't think I was going to live through that."

Link looked up and saw her up against one of the pipes, breathing hard. He picked up the key and floated up to her. She asked, "How did you defeat that thing?"

Link replied, "I don't know. I think it was either luck, or this Triforce."

Ruto smiled and said, "Link, I don't know what to say right now. You have helped me so much, you've just saved my life, and I still haven't thanked you enough."

Link asked, "Uh...what do you mean?"

Ruto smiled and said, "I'll show you when we get out onto land."

She swam towards the only open pipe in the room and Link watched her leave, still confused as to what she meant. He smiled and thought, Maybe she does love me. I don't know yet, but the way she was hinting at it, I would almost be led to believe that she does.

He swam after her, still holding the key. Then he remembered all of the time they spent getting lost and his horrors returned. He knew now that this was not going to be a place he was going to return to anytime soon.

Okay, I promised some people that I would not split this chapter. I'm sorry that I had to, and it was not because of the crazy length. Things did not go as planned today and so I did not even come close to getting a chance to finish this one, as I started later than I usually do. So, I'm sorry, and you'll see the rest tomorrow, plus an extra plot twist right afterwards to make up for the inconvenient lapse. Sincerely, DarkCloud780.